Word Central at Central Library

Word Central is a long-standing live literature favourite that takes place every month at Central Library and features open mic performers and a special guest, brought to you by Manchester Libraries and Flapjack Press.

Join some of the award-winning wordsmiths of Salford-based publishing house Flapjack Press and performers from further afield for the latest instalment in what you can expect to be a no-holds-barred evening of performance poetry, all compered by the affable Tony Curry.

Stepping up to Word Central headliner duties for February is spoken word stalwart Mike Garry. Manchester poet Mike Garry’s poetry – described as “both gritty and beautiful, married to a charismatic performance style” and “passionate swirling rhythms of thoughts and emotions converted to monologues of quick fire words” – is well known and he regularly supports punk poet John Cooper Clarke. His four books – Men’s Morning, Mancunian Meander, God Is A Manc and Men’s Mourning – have received wide critical acclaim and are regularly read on TV and radio, and in schools throughout the UK. He also performs regularly with long-time collaborators the Cassia String Quartet, together collaborating with Philip Glass and New Order, and their first single ‘St Anthony: An Ode to Anthony H Wilson’ – Mike Garry’s poem dedicated to the late Factory Records boss, put to classical music by the composer Joe Duddell – went to number one in three official UK charts in August 2015, with the video (featuring Steve Coogan, Iggy Pop, Bernard Sumner and many more) viewed by over one million people in its first month of release.

There’s a sign-up-in-advance open mic for Word Central, but if you fancy taking part, you need to be quick – the three-minute performance slots are bookable from noon two weeks before (this month, the list opens on 11 February) via email to the Flapjack address and are allocated on a ‘first come first served’ basis (if none are left you will be offered a space on the reserve list).